House Detective: A reminder to look beyond the marketing hype on product labels

Wednesday

Apr 16, 2014 at 2:00 AM

If you've followed this column at all you know one of my favorite topics is clean cleansers that replace the contemporary chemical-based household products. This one is just a cautionary tale for that collection.

Jeanné McCartin

If you've followed this column at all you know one of my favorite topics is clean cleansers that replace the contemporary chemical-based household products. This one is just a cautionary tale for that collection.

I proselytize in my private life, not just in print. Last year I turned buddies Steve and Mike into believers. It wasn't difficult given Steve's discovery that his sinus discomfort (read misery) was in part related to products used in their homes.

Steve visited last week. Our big, fun outing was getting errands done. Truth is it was a blast, chatting and laughing together while barely noticing work was being accomplished. Best kind of required shopping there is.

It was also another opportunity for a minor, but frank, example of the need to carefully navigate aisles when purchasing for the household.

Steve said he couldn't wait to show me a product he'd recently found — his tone denoting I was in for a real chuckle. Yes, you could call it that if "misdirection" is your kind of frivolity. His big joke of the day was a new multi-surface cleaning produced by a national company with vinegar prominently featured on its label.

Steve knows I use vinegar on just about everything. The natural form is a great all-purpose cleaner.

He finds it hysterical that companies now use plain old vinegar to hoodwink at point of sale, because of course there are other ingredients.

Vinegar was merely the marketing tool, not unlike the useless, unregulated "natural" label used to appeal to people trying to make their home safer from chemicals.

A check of this latest product's backside showed both additional ingredients and a lack of information — practice allowed with many household foods and products.

An online check with Environmental Working Group didn't reveal any additional materials. But with what the Working Group could garner it rated the product with a D, and a warning.

Of the items listed there are two that said "no data, some concern." The group gave one ingredient a moderate concern; another both moderate and some concern. The fragrance got a "some concern," with the added note that "Disclosure concerns, non-specific ingredients." Overall rating: for "Ingredient Disclosure" it received a "poor" and as for whether it is "green," a certified "no." Some of the possible issues this product's ingredients posed include skin irritation, allergies, nervous system, systemic/organ and respiratory effects. Also listed: aquatic toxicity and some other miscellaneous bits and bob.

Vinegar? The real thing is an organic by-product of fruit, biodegradable and safe to breathe or eat. Get it in your eye, sure it will sting, but there is no lasting effect.

This product Steve pointed out isn't the worst by far — perhaps. How would we know? We're not being told what's in it. What is sure is that it's not "vinegar" as the average person would define it. In fact its ingredient list put acetic acid — vinegar — as the fifth ingredient (water the first). Percent unknown. By law, they don't have to tell us.

The issue here is less that this latest product is being hawked with misleading marketing, but that it's a common practice with which busy people, trying to make a change in their own homes, need to contend.

I still come across people who trust the market, or believe there are regulations in place that prohibit potentially harmful ingredients from being sold in food or for household use. This latest "vinegar-mix thingy" would be minor in the field, laughable really, were it not for what it says about the way we do business and the way we buy.

This one, minor, product demonstrates the bottom line: marketing is just that. It is for the purpose of sales and a company's profits — but for shoppers a trip down the rabbit hole.

Marketing is the agency that uses a cute cartoon character to sell sugar-laden cereal with chemical food coloring to children. It can slap "all natural" on products with corn syrup and preservatives or cleaners with carcinogens among its ingredients. "Strawberry roll-ups" may be nothing more than pear juice and red dye. There are categories of products that are not required to divulge all ingredients and may use unregulated labels or terms to purposefully mislead.

No wonder about 59 percent of consumers have difficultly understanding nutrition labels, according to a Nielsen survey.

It's been a while since House Detective visited this topic, so I guess that new point of sale label has one good outcome — a reminder to post a reminder.

It's simple: You cannot trust the label-of-appeal, nor the large-eyed cartoon character, the actor you've long admired or a company because it's a familiar, "friendly" brand. Remember, Kellogg's was launched as a healthy food brand, and today sells Froot Loops and Pop-Tarts. Turn the product over and read ingredients!

And while that may not offer all the information, it gives you what you need. If they're not telling, they're hiding something — best you just move along.

House Detective Jeanné McCartin may be reached at maskmakernh@aol.com.

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